Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has announced his most significant wartime Cabinet shakeup yet, tapping a new defense minister as Kyiv ramps up an anti-graft crackdown and presses a grinding offensive in the country’s occupied south.
Zelenskiy named Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine’s State Property Fund, to replace Oleksii Reznikov, who has battled allegations of graft in military procurement by subordinates on his watch.
Reznikov, who has denied wrongdoing and informed the president this summer that he was overworked, shook up top positions in the ministry in February to weed out sleaze.
Photo: AFP
He submitted his resignation yesterday, he wrote on the social media platform X.
The British government now expects him to be named as Kyiv’s ambassador to London, although the appointment has yet to be confirmed, people familiar with the situation said.
He was not personally involved in corruption and is not under investigation, a person familiar with Ukraine’s graft probe said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“I think the ministry needs new approaches and another format of cooperation with the military and with society,” Zelenskiy said on Sunday in his daily video address. “The parliament will be asked to approve the decision this week.”
Zelenskiy has ramped up a crackdown on corruption, which remains a major concern for allies as they continue to pour weapons and cash into Ukraine to help it beat back Russia’s invasion, retake occupied territory and stabilize the war-ravaged economy.
The president last month fired all of the army’s top draft officers, following the dismissal of a number of lawmakers, including from his own party. Reznikov’s removal might help give Zelenskiy cover against concern that corruption is undermining the armed forces as Ukrainian soldiers fight Russia at the front.
Umerov, 41, has been praised by anti-corruption activists for his efforts to clean up graft at the State Property Fund.
He has been involved in war-related talks, including about prisoner swaps and the grain deal that allowed Ukraine to export food via the Black Sea before Russia pulled out in July. A fluent Turkish speaker, he worked for the leader of Ukraine’s Crimean Tatars after Moscow annexed the peninsula in 2014 and has focused on the protection of human rights of its indigenous people.
He also has extensive ties in Turkey and the Middle East, where countries often seek to play go-betweens with the Kremlin and Kyiv.
“If after a thousand visits there you are not treated as a brother, it means you might be some kind of wretch,” he said in an interview with Ukrayinska Pravda, referring to his dealings in Turkey. “Plus, I speak Turkish.”
US President Joe Biden, asked by reporters near his home in Delaware, said he was aware that Zelenskiy intends to replace his defense minister. He declined to comment further.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS